Richard's Westfield

After racing a virtually standard Mitsubishi Galant in 1987/88 I decided motorsport was for me. I then had to decide whether to spend a lot of money on a car which still might not be competitive or change to something more suitable. Stephen Fox had just started local manufacture of Westfields and was racing the first car he built. I had always liked clubman style cars so I decided to take a closer look. The first Australian Westfields were based on the English cars of the time which used all Ford Escort running gear but I was keen to use Mitsubishi components and these early cars were easily adapted to take different engines and gearboxes.

I purchased the kit (chassis no WSC0033) in July 1990 for $6,300 and took delivery of it in September. Only the SE narrow body was available at the time so there were no choices to make. The running gear came from a rally car that was basically a copy of the Lancers that dominated the Southern Cross Rallies in the 1970s. (In fact the close ratio gearbox was actually from one of those cars) The modified 1700cc Saturn engine produced 125kW at 8,000rpm.

	Having taken delivery of the kit I painted the chassis in grey zinc primer. The early chassis were narrow body and had no steel panelling at all, not even seat runner trays. An ideal base for the project I had in mind - an ultra light road registered club racer.

Here the chassis is panelled with most of the suspension, brakes and wiring fitted. The engine and gearbox can be seen in the photo and were fitted and removed several times during this stage of construction. Kits didn't include pedal boxes back then so I used Lancer pedals and master cylinder.

The Lancer rally car that I used as a donor vehicle had some good factory performance gear like the close ratio gearbox and a limited slip differential. Using the Lancer rear axle meant a different wheel stud pattern to the usual Ford PCD. I was pleasantly surprised to find that Lancer front hubs fitted the Cortina stub axles! I then had matching wheel stud patterns front and rear and the complete Lancer braking system. I carried on the use of Mitsubishi components to include pedal box, steering column, windscreen wipers, switchgear and numerous other parts.

	The engine I used was a 1700cc Mitsubishi Saturn 4G35 built by Malcolm Crockenberg. It was already extensively modified for it's previous use in the rally car, with a works #5 camshaft and 2x45DCOE Weber carburettors.
I fitted a 52 litre aluminium fuel tank and an aluminium CAMS approved roll bar. (Kits didn't include roll bars in those days) At this stage the bodywork would have been on and off several times before painting and final fitment. The fitting of such a large fuel tank means that luggage space was very limited!
	The kit was supplied with 'clamshell' wings but cycle guards became available shortly after. The original cycle guards were very narrow but I widened one from which a mould was taken to produce the guards that most later Westfields were fitted with.
At this point the car was running and complete except for the trim. Seat trimming and the exhaust system were two of very few tasks I did not tackle myself. Although the car was built for racing I road registered it first.

My Westfield was completed and registered in September 1992. While building my car I was fortunate enough to be offered several race drives in other Westfields so I was able to enjoy several years of successful and satisfying motor racing, starting before my car was even built. These certainly were enjoyable times for me and building a Westfield was probably the best thing I have ever done in my life.

		MOTORSPORT HIGHLIGHTS* Marque Sports Car Champion 1992,95 WA Rallysprint Champion 1995 Class Winner Endurance Series 1992,93,94,95 3rd Outright Wanneroo 300 1995 Wanneroo Raceway lap record (several times) *Some results were achieved driving other Westfields
	SPECIFICATIONS Engine : Mitsubishi Saturn 1700 Power : 125kW at 8,000rpm Gearbox : Mitsubishi close ratio 5 speed Final Drive : Mitsubishi 3.89 or 4.22 LSD Weight : 500kg	PERFORMANCE 0 - 100km/h : 5.5sec Standing 400m : 13sec Wanneroo Raceway short circuit : 56sec Wanneroo Raceway long circuit : 68sec Top speed : 200km/h

I sold my Westfield in November 2000. The car has since had a couple of owners, it is still around but was never raced again.